January 1, Lawyer turns himself in on charges for bizarre $10M insurance fraud scheme

On Thursday, South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh turned himself in for charges stemming from an incident wherein Murdaugh arranged his own murder so that his surviving son could collect the $10 million life insurance policy.

Murdaugh, 53, faces felony charges of insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, and filing a false police report. If convicted on all three charges, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to a defense attorney, Murdaugh went into a deep depression and drug addiction after discovering the bodies of his wife and son, who were shot multiple times at their home on June 7. The killings are still unsolved.

The PMPED law firm, founded by Murdaugh’s family, fired him on Sept. 3 for embezzling a large sum of money.

His lawyer said he decided to kill himself the following day but wanted someone else to pull the trigger.

Authorities said Murdaugh asked Curtis Edward Smith to shoot him in the head on Sept. 4 so his surviving son could collect a $10 million life insurance policy. However, the bullet only grazed his head.

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Murdaugh surrenders to face charges in $10M insurance fraud